


Soulm8s 4ever (1979)

by javabi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (to explain how both pairings are here but it's cc), Canon Compliant, Declarations Of Love, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, House Cleaning, Humor, Prank Wars, Sappy, Soulmates, Spring Cleaning, time lapse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 09:32:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3891313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/javabi/pseuds/javabi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What starts as Spring Cleaning in the Potter household very quickly turns into an all-out prank war - but unlike the wizarding war James and Lily are in the middle of, this one has a very happy (and sappy) ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soulm8s 4ever (1979)

Spring Cleaning had always been a somewhat sordid affair for James and Lily Potter.

Last year alone, James ran the lawn mower into a tree, accidentally blew up the toilet by mixing up “ _scourgify_ ” with “ _reducto_ ,” and transformed into a stag inside the house to scare away all the mice (the antler-holes remain in the bathroom wall to this day).

Lily was no better: she tried to Charm herself to fly so she could reach the dusty ceiling beams (she was lucky not to be concussed), decided to clean the kitchen floor by pouring dish soap onto it and sliding around the room naked, and determined that the best way to trim the hedges was with a hand ax.

The shenanigans from last year had fueled many laughter-filled evenings over dinner tables within the Order, and perhaps this was the reason why the 1979 edition of Spring Cleaning With the Potters was already turning into a giant prank war.

“LILY! Did you seriously glue all of my toy cars to the ceiling?!”

“That's what you get for filling our nice, clean bathtub with frog spawn.”

“I wouldn't have done that in the first place if you hadn't Charmed that bucket of dirty mop water to float over my head all day. And how was I supposed to know it would spill on me every time I made a joke about sex?”

“Serves you right for Transfiguring our front door into a giant bra!”

And so on.

Of course, this kind of thing was probably to be expected from these two. At Hogwarts, the entire beginning of James and Lily's romantic relationship was somewhat based on their comical antics and tendency to make fun of each other relentlessly. The fact that their post-Hogwarts adult life was so full of death and terror made pranks and playfulness more important than ever, and they weren't quite ready to let go of that aspect of their relationship yet, if ever.

Still, the pranks may have crossed a line when Lily covered the kitchen (which was usually spotless thanks to James' ministrations as Self-Appointed Family Chef) in Stinksap.

“Babe. You _know_ the kitchen is where I go to relax,” James said as he collapsed somewhat dramatically into an armchair next to the bookshelf his wife was dusting. “that's why I always make sure it's clean, so I can cook if I want to calm down for a bit.”

Lily did feel a little bad after he said that. She put down the duster with a sigh and turned to face him. “I'm sorry, Prongsie. Maybe we should stop with the pranks for now?”

“Yeah. Not that most of them weren't brilliant, because they were.” James stopped talking for a moment and grinned proudly at Lily, probably remembering a particularly good gag she had pulled that day. “But we're making more of a mess when really we should be cleaning up, yeah?”

“Why, James Osmond Potter, could you possibly be turning into a Real Adult?” Lily quipped lightheartedly, then gave him a gentle poke to the side.

James laughed easily and said, “No way, Lils. Blargh – the thought alone sickens me. But the more time we spend cleaning up after our pranks, the less time we get to spend in the bedroom with that big-”

“All right, I get it, don't make me bring the dirty mop water back. You made yourself clear: more cleaning means less sex.” She smiled and kissed him softly on the forehead. “Fair enough.”

“Brilliant.” he replied, leaping to his feet and glancing around the corner to look at the filthy kitchen. “I have no idea how to get rid of Stinksap, by the way. Should we Floo Molly, or do you think Remus might know...?”

“Neither. I have plenty of experience getting rid of that stuff, the number of times I've pulled this prank."

“I swear you give me another reason to love you every day, you know that Lils? Seriously – how did I get this lucky?”

* * *

 

Despite James' request to stop pulling pranks on each other, Lily decided to do one last thing to make up for the Stinksap incident. She was outside washing their bedroom window when a sudden surge of sappy mischievousness overtook her.

Lily peered inside to make sure her husband wasn't watching from the bedroom (she wanted him to see the final product, not the process) and picked up the soapy sponge. After covering the entire window with suds, she used her finger to write the message: “Prongsie + Lils = soulm8s 4ever ♥ ♥ – 1979”

“Soulmates forever, huh?” said a voice right behind her. Lily started so sharply she almost fell off the ladder, but a gentle hand on her back prevented that from happening. James snickered a little, then said playfully, “I'm not sure I'm willing to stay married to a girl who can't even wash windows correctly.”

“Potter, you're the biggest sap I've ever met, so I'll know you're lying if you say you don't like my message.” Lily said coolly, without turning away from the window to look at her husband.

“I didn't say I didn't like it,” James said softly. “In fact-” He drew his wand and murmured a spell under his breath, so quietly that Lily could barely hear the incantation.

“Did you just put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the soapy widow?!”

“Yep.” replied James shamelessly, a Cheshire cat grin plastered to his smug face. “This is art, Lils. The kind of art I want to wake up to every morning for the rest of my life.”

“Sap.” Lily scoffed. James just laughed, then gently lifted her down from the ladder and adjusted her weight so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

“Yep.” he repeated. James could feel her laugh on his lips as they kissed.

* * *

**  
20 Years Later**  

“Harry, you ok?” Ginny called through the rickety old house. Her fiance had been rummaging around upstairs, singing some old Muggle tune happily, but something had caused him to stop mid-lyric.

“Harry?” she called again, feeling increasingly concerned. “I can't even imagine how hard this must be for you, so if you're not feeling up to it that's fine, we can come back another time. Honestly we don't even have to move in here, if it's too much for you. Grimmauld Place is-”

“No, we're definitely living here, if you still want to!” Harry called down the stairs. Ginny couldn't decide what emotions were in his voice, but it was a strange combination. Some mixture of happy, pained, and... amazed? Bewildered? All of the above? “Come up here, Gin. You've got to see this.”

With little hesitation, Ginny sprinted up the stairs and followed his voice into what was once the master bedroom, judging by the broken bed frame and torn mattress lying in the center of the floor in a heap. Harry, however, was staring out the window, a blissful grin lighting up his features.

No, he wasn't looking _out_ the window – he was looking _at_ it.

“What? What is it?” Ginny exclaimed, curious beyond belief. For a response, Harry simply pointed at the window, still smiling like all his dreams had suddenly come true. The old pane was cracked, caked in grime and soot, but a phrase was still clearly visible. Right in the middle, as though it had been written yesterday, were the words:

_Prongsie + Lils = soulm8s 4ever ♥ ♥ – 1979._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I had so much fun writing this one - these two have such a stellar relationship in my mind, it's always a thrill to write about their lives. All mistakes are my own, by the way, so feel free to point them out! Comments and kudos make my day, so I'd love to hear your thoughts! ♥


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